Gaming in Stereo: Wedding Edition

I know I have been away for some time, planning a wedding, even having a year in advance, can be a difficult time. The most difficult of these choices has clearly been what song I wanted played while dancing with my mother. My mother has been the most influential people in my life, pushing me to always do better and always taking an interest with the things I love. She is a constant reader on the site, always forwarding me articles on the good the gaming industry does, and when ever she visits, takes time to sit and watch me play. My love and appreciation for classical music stems from her pushing me in middle and high school. I started learning music when I was around 9 years old. I played the trumpet from then till I graduated high school and I can still read sheet music to this day. There had been several times I wanted to quit, with the reason either being some of my friends or a teacher had annoyed me to the point of no return; but, because of her I stayed. Now, as an adult, I see that it was for the better and I can now honestly say, thank you. When choosing the song to dance with my mother, I wanted it to incorporate all of the above. I wanted it to have emotion, be gaming related, and be an orchestrated piece with no lyrics what so ever. I am not a traditionalist by any means. I feel there is more emotion in music without lyrics. Lyrics can be an empty shell, devoid of meaning, and can be crafted by anyone. Real composition takes an artist, and I looked to one of my favorite game composers, who I deeply respect as an artist and composer, Nobuo Uematsu for a composition. I chose “Zanarkand” from the Final Fantasy X soundtrack. It is the version taken from Uematsu-sans “Distant Worlds II: More Music from Final Fantasy” album, it has a full orchestra playing the piece instead of the MIDI version from the game (the new HD Remaster has much better audio, Yay!). I wanted to say thank you for your hard work and dedication to me for the past 29 years. I have grown into a young man that appreciates the arts and well crafted music because of you. I try to pass that love of music and games with each Gaming in Stereo article I write. Mom, if you read this before you leave, I love you and hope you enjoy the music! To everyone else, I will be departing for a bit, but will return in force, with articles popping up, hopefully next week. I may have to blog a bit while the misses is out shopping on our trip, and don’t think I would go on a honeymoon and leave my handhelds!